Hillary Clinton endorsed by Service Employees worldwide Union

The second Democratic presidential candidate debate held Saturday night at Drake University in Des Moines became a spirited dialogue that highlighted differences among the three Democratic hopefuls – Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders.

Hillary Rodham Clinton won the endorsement of the Service Employees worldwide Union on Tuesday, giving her the support of a labor powerhouse that backed President Barack Obama in 2008.

“Hillary Clinton has proven she will fight, deliver and win for working families”, said SEIU president Mary Kay Henry in a statement.

But the campaigns of two of Clinton’s would-be Republican challengers are taking in far more from Wall Street than her 2016 campaign.

“If you are truly concerned about raising incomes for middle-class families, the last thing you should do is cut their take-home pay right off the bat by raising their taxes”, Fallon said in a statement Tuesday.

Sanders proposed a bill in the Senate in 2013 to create a single-payer health care system that would have increased income taxes and payroll taxes to pay for it. The former secretary of state remains the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, with 56 percent support to 31 percent for Sanders in a five-day rolling poll by Reuters/IPSOS dated November 13.

In a brief message posted on her official Twitter account, Clinton said “Thanks, @SEIU”.

The SEIU support is particularly meaningful among the labor endorsements Clinton has been racking up.

The Service Employees worldwide Union, which represents 2 million workers in service industries such as healthcare and child care, made the endorsement following a lengthy debate at a meeting of its executive board here.

“All the Democratic candidates are similar on the issues”, said Henry.

And every step of the way, SEIU has been fighting for workers.

Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said the campaign was “gratified that hundreds of thousands of workers are part of the growing grassroots movement supporting Bernie’s campaign to help working families”. But as she had arrived at this juncture of the campaign as not only the leader but an increasingly dominant leader, Clinton had little room to improve.

Perhaps the most important shift for labor was Clinton’s decision to come out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal that President Obama is trying to push through Congress.

The former first lady earned the loyalty of the SEUI even though she has balked at a $15 minimum wage, preferring a more modest $12 per hour. The email cited Clinton’s refusal to support a $15 federal minimum wage. “But I do believe that is a minimum”.